beautiful sea
by The Windmill of the Sun
Summary: Long ago, human civilization had lived on the ocean floor. However, there were many humans who wanted to live above the surface and they moved to land creating a fundamental separation between the two. Rei never believed this legend until he saw a girl surfacing from the ocean, one morning he was on his way to school.


**This isn't the crossover you were expecting, and this is the oneshot this crossover deserves. /sobsforever**

**Major OOC-ness warning. Also going against canon. I am so sorry.**

* * *

Long ago, human civilization had lived on the ocean floor. However, there were many humans who wanted to live above the surface and they moved to land creating a fundamental separation between the two.

Fishermen claimed to have seen the town under the sea and to have talked to the people inhabiting it, primarily to discuss about fishing boundaries since there had been an incident a while back where a girl was netted.

Rei never believed this legend. He thought it was illogical, a fairy tale his mother told him when he was younger. He never believed it until he saw a girl surfacing from the ocean, one morning he was on his way to school. No one in their right mind would swim in their high school uniform.

He noticed the girl fix her hair but made no motion to dry her clothes off which clung to her body. What got him entranced was the way her skin glistened with the light from the sun.

Rei adjusted his glasses when he caught himself staring and jogged the rest of the way to Iwatobi High.

* * *

"My name is Miuna Shiodome. I'm from Shioshishio and I used to go to Namiji high school until they closed down. Please take care of me."

There were rumors going around that some of the students at Iwatobi were residents of the sea village, and the girl now identified as Shiodome cemented it.

Rei stared at the characters of her name written on the board.

_Beautiful Sea._

"Ne, Rei-chan," Nagisa-kun poked his back. "Don't you think her name suits her?"

Rei glanced at him and looked back at the girl that had long raven hair and a pair of oddly colored eyes. Her skin was pale and it shone when hit by light.

"Beautiful…" He muttered and was broken out of his reverie when the teacher said she could take the vacant seat beside his blond friend.

As expected, Nagisa-kun greeted their new classmate and called her by her first name without permission which she didn't seem to mind.

"Miuna-chan, this is Rei-chan!" The blue haired teen turned to face them when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ryugazaki Rei. Nice to meet you." He introduced himself.

Shiodome smiled shyly at him and nodded in acknowledgement. "Likewise."

The roof was crowded more so than usual when lunch came around. Since Shiodome didn't bring a box lunch with her, Nagisa-kun offered to accompany her to the cafeteria. Introductions aside, she fit in the group naturally as if she had been there the entire time.

Haruka-senpai's eyes shone with interest when she mentioned living on the ocean floor. Gou admired how her skin radiated in the sunlight.

"That's because of your Ena, right?" Makoto-senpai asked earning a small nod from the girl. She let him explain further that it was an outer layer of skin that helped her breathe under water.

"Makoto-senpai, you seem to know a lot about the sea village," Rei tried to mask his astonishment even though he actually found it fascinating.

"My fisherman friend used to tell me stories about them, you see."

"Hey, hey, why don't you join the swim club?" Nagisa-kun suggested after sucking the jam out of his bread.

"Yeah! You'd be a great addition to the team!" Gou agreed enthusiastically, hoping she wouldn't be the only female in the club anymore.

"Now, now, It's only Shiodome-san's first day. She might have other prospects," Rei defended.

"But Rei-chan!" The blond headbutted his shoulder playfully. "You, of all people, know how persistent I am!"

Rei's smirked softened into a smile because it was true and wouldn't be here if it weren't for him.

"Well," Shiodome finally broke her silence. "I'm not really used to swimming on the surface, and I don't swim using the front crawl that often."

"Being able to swim is good enough," The dark haired teen pitched in, the same languid expression on his face.

"That's true," Makoto-senpai nodded as he shared his opinion.

Nagisa nodded vigorously at their words. "We even have a coach! Goro-chan can help you!" He added, round pink eyes pleading.

The girl giggled in turn. "I'll think about it."

"Come to our practice later," Rei suggested surprisingly agreeing to the idea since they were indeed in need of new members. "I will mesmerize you with my beautiful butterfly stroke and convince you to join us!" Rei boasted even though he knew he still wasn't at the same level of his redhead friend's older brother.

"Okay," She responded, amusement present in her tone. "But only on the condition that you call me Miuna, Rei-kun."

* * *

Miuna accepted their invitation and sat through their practice. Gou sat with her on the bench and they talked about how it was to live underwater. Ms. Amakata, the club's adviser wasn't present since she had other scholarly duties to attend to. The boys, mostly the butterfly swimmer, tried to put on an impressive display of their prowess to the prospective member. If he wanted to make an impact, he was going to put more effort than usual.

Rei kicked the wall as he began to swim back to the platform. He struggled, but at least he wasn't sinking like a rock anymore. At that moment, purple locked with gray. The contact broke when he went underwater. The bluenette pulled himself out of the pool to take a breather. He grinned to himself as he turned towards the pool again. With Haruka-senpai's magnificent swimming, Nagisa-kun's speed and precision, Makoto-senpai's… well, back muscles, and Rei's beautiful form, Miuna was sure to join them.

"Good work, Rei-kun," He heard a female voice he wasn't familiar with say. Rei thanked her when she offered a towel.

"So, what do you think of the team? You can't help thinking how beautiful we are, can you?" It was more of a statement than a question which earned a small giggle from her.

"It certainly is a sight to be behold, people from the surface being able to swim so amazingly," She concurred looking over at the other swimmers. "Joining you would be the most logical thing, considering my roots."

Rei listened on and followed her gaze. He glanced sideways towards her and wondered about how she would look like moving under water with her petite frame.

"You do look beautiful when you're in the water."

Her comment caught him off guard, making him reach up to his face as if to adjust his glasses just to hide the blush that formed on his cheeks. "W-well, I'm going to continue practicing," He hurried back and dove into the pool. To be called beautiful by someone he just met wasn't something he was expecting.

Practice went on and ended as scheduled. Gou left earlier than everyone else since she lived farthest away from school. Makoto offered to let Miuna walk home with him and Haruka since the ocean was on the way. Nagisa and Rei came with them after deciding to hang out for a while at their senpai's house.

"Miuna-chan, were we able to impress you with our swimming? Are you going to join us now?" Nagisa asked her again.

Miuna tried to keep up with their bigger strides all the while. "I'm considering it."

"That means yes, right?" He kept at it.

She giggled. "Before that, I'll need to get a swimsuit."

"You live in the water and you don't have a swimsuit," Haruka responded flatly since he was very particular about the matter.

"That's just it. I live in the water—" Her statement fell short when she collapsed on her knees.

"Miuna-chan?" Makoto knelt down to her height since he was beside her. "Her Ena must be dry. We need to get her to the sea, quickly!"

Rei's eyes widened in shock and saw a patch of skin on her arm had cracked. He watched the brunet scoop her up. "I'll do it," He volunteered. "I run the fastest among all of us."

Makoto nodded and handed the girl over to him. "I'll take her bag. You be careful. We'll be right behind you."

Rei took off sprinting without a second thought. Miuna felt unexpectedly light in his arms. Fortunately, he retained his form and speed on land despite being on the swim team. They arrived a the beach in just a few minutes and he ran to the shore, setting her down in the water when he was in knee-deep. She looked blissful floating in the water, her long hair flowing behind her.

Purple eyes observed her features and suddenly he was aware of how long her eyelashes were. He sighed when he saw her skin begin to regenerate. The cracks disappeared, leaving nothing but beautiful ena that glistened with the last rays of the sun that day.

"I was always watching."

Rei almost jumped when a set of gray eyes peered back at him.

"From below, the surface looked so near, but in reality it was still so far away. I thought I'd never reach it." She rose slowly from her position.

"But you're here now," A voice said from behind Rei. Makoto, Haruka and Nagisa stood where the water met the sand.

"And we can show you more of the surface if you let us," Nagisa added.

"Though I'm sure Haru here would prefer if you showed him your village," Makoto talked for his best friend. Haruka just rolled his eyes in turn, but the faintest of smiles reached his lips.

Miuna stared back at them doe eyed before her face lit up with a smile that could rival her senpai's.

"That's right," Rei spoke up, finally. "There's plenty to explore here on the surface." He adjusted his glasses. "Oh and do us a favor next time you come to land. Bring some salt water with you so you wont dry up."

The girl chuckled in delight and nodded. "I will! I'm sorry for getting you wet."

Rei offered her a small shake of the head as a reply. "Don't worry about it."

"I know how to compensate for that," She bowed her head at them. "I'd like to join the Iwatobi High School Swim Club!"


End file.
